Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said tragic incidents like that of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a Waziristan man, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Karachi, has shaken public confidence in the institutions authorised to ensure security of the people.

Naqeebullah’s killing in an alleged police encounter, headed by SSP Rao Anwaar, in Usman Khaskheli Goth in Karachi last week, had triggered protests in almost all the big cities of the country.

“Tribal people have rendered matchless sacrifices for the country and they should be given their constitutional rights,” Fazl said while talking to the media on Monday in Dera Ismail Khan.

“My party equally shares the grief,” he said, adding those responsible should be given exemplary punishment.

Talking to Daily Times earlier, relatives of the slain man had starkly disputed police claim that the deceased was affiliated with militants.

They said that late Naqeebullah had studied at a public school up to class 6 and had never attended any seminary in his lifetime.

“My party is equally taking part in the protests against the gruesome killing of Naqeebullah and we demand that justice should be dispensed to the bereaved family,” he added.

On Monday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) accepted a petition to investigate the alleged fake police encounters staged by former Malir SSP Rao Anwar. The SHC issued notices to Sindh Police Inspector General AD Khawaja, Rao Anwar, Sindh Home Secretary Sohail Anwar Siyal and other senior officials.

Earlier, Rao Anwar failed to appear before the Sindh IG and the National Commission for Human Rights in connection with the Naqeebullah Mehsud case.

Published in Daily Times, January 23^rd 2018.